Propelling mechanism for vessels.



No. 678,l93. Patented July 9,1901.

M. A. PETERSON. PBORELIJNG MECHANISM FOR VESSELS.

' (Appiication filed Apr. so, 1901.) (No Mode. 2 Sheets-Sheet l.

Patented July 9, 190i. M; A. PETERSON. PROPELLING MECHANISM FOR VESSELS.

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(No Model.)

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFroE.

MARTIN A. PETE1RSON,IOF'SIOUXYOITY, IOWA.

PROPELLING MECHANISM FOR VESSELS SPECIFICATION forming part of LettersPatent No. 678,193, dated July 9, 1901. Application filed April 30,1901. Serial No- 58,Z11. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MARTIN A. PETERSON, a citizen of the United States,residing at Sioux City, in the county of Woodbury and State of Iowa,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in PropellingMechanism for Vessels, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to certain newand for vessels; and it consists inthe construc tion and arrangement of the parts, as will be hereinafterset forth, and specifically pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation showing theapplication of my invention to a vessel. Fig.:2 is a'pla'n View, theboxes through which the rock-shafts pass having the top and bottomremoved. Fig. 3 is a detail transverse sectional view. Fig. 4 is adetail longitudinal section.

erating the rock-shafts. Figs. 6, 7, and 8 are detail views of thepropellers, and Fig. 9 is a detail sectional View.

The hull of the vessel A is provided on each side above the water-linewith boxes or frames A, consisting of longitudinal andverticallydisposed side pieces do. 1 In practice the inner side pieces01'. may be a part of thehull. The bottom pieces of the boxes have atintervals slots a and above the bottom pieces are secured strips offlexible waterproof material a through which the bars which carry thepropellers pass. The strips 0. may be of rubber, waterproof canvas, orrigid slides which will move in unison with the bars as they areoscillated, the object being to close the 1ongitudinal slots and preventwater entering the boxes. The upper piece a? or covering for the boxes Awill be flush with the decks and can be readily removed to afford accessto the boxes.

Bock-shafts b are journaled in the side ieces a a said rock-shafts beinseated in 7 V b the outer side pieces and pass through the in,- nersides or hull ofthe vessel, the inner'projecting ends being providedwith cranks b, which are rigidly attached thereto, the cranks beingoscillated by mechanism which will be hereinafter described.

Rods c carry the folding or feathering pro Fig. 5 is a side elevation ofthe mechanism for oppellers, and said rods pass through the slots 0. inthe bottom of the boxes A, then through the strips of, they also passingthrough open-- ings in the rock-shafts b, to which they are made fast byset-screws, so that the rods may I be adjusted to vary the depth of thepropellers. It will be noted that the boxes have considerable depth, andquite a range of ad coiled'about the rod 0 after .the manner of abutt-hinge, the hinge connections coacting to prevent the bladesswinging one beyond the other when they are open in driving the vesselforward. Adjacent to the hinge c I provide a longitudinal loop 0 againstwhich the diverging bars will abut in order to prevent the bladesclosing entirely one against the other, and the sides of the divergingbars may be cut away or beveled to provide, should they bebrought closetogether, edges which diverge away from each other rearwardly, so thatthey will spread when moved aft. A spring c is coiled about the bar 0and through the loop 0 the ends of said spring bearing upon the rearsurfaces of the blades, tending to exert a pressure againsttheupperportion of the blades to throw them apart. In front of thefeathering-blades to the-barc there'is attached a guard 0, made up of apiece of'sheet metal which is bent so as to be V-shaped incross-section, and this guard not only serves to protect the hinges, butalso acts in use as a cut -water.

The propeller-blades constructed as shown, so as to feather when movedforward and open when moved aft, are arranged so that when the forwardpropellers are moving towardthe bow those located aft on the oppositeside will move in the same direction, or, in other words, thosepropellers which are located diagonally opposite move simultaneously inthe same direction. I As the forward propellers exert a greater tendencyto move the vessel offjits course than the rear ones, thereisprovided alarger number of propeller-blades aft, and said blades are so arrangedthat when those forward on one side-say on the portare op crating todrive the vessel forward those aft on the starboard side are operatingin the same manner, the larger number of paddles aft overcoming thetendency of the forward paddles to turn the vessel. Each set of'paddlesis connected by rods d, which are attached to cranks which are securedto the rock-shafts, and these rods 01 are also connected to pitmen d (1which engage the wrist-pins of wheels D,which are turned in any suitablemanner, the connecting means being such that the forward rock-shafts areoscillated in a different direction from the aft ones.

It is within the scope of myinvention to provide other means for gearingthe drivingwheels to the rock-shaft; butin every instance the gearingshould be such that the paddles on the same side of the vessel areoscillated simultaneously in opposite directions, and the engine shouldbe so geared that when it is desired to turn the vessel the paddles onone side can be thrown out of gear or held stationary while those on theother side are operating.

By means of this device vessels of shallow made without departing fromthe spirit of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. In combination with a vessel, having 1ongitudinal boxes with slottedbottoms, of rockshafts jon rnaled in said boxes,fe'atheringpaddlesadjustably attached to the rock-shafts, and means for oscillating saidrock-shafts, substantially as shown.

2. In combination with a vessel having longitudinal boxes, rock-shat tsj ournaled in said boxes, of feathering-paddles carried by rods whichare adjustably attached to the rock shafts, cranks on the ends of therock-shafts, rods connecting several rock-shafts together, and means foroscillating each series of rockshafts and paddles attached thereto onthe same side of the vessel in opposite directions, substantially asshown.

3. A feathering-paddle for propelling vessels consisting of a centralrod, diverging side bars connected to the rod by a rule-hinge joint,plates attached to the diverging bars and to the central rod by beingcoiled about the same, a V-shaped guard carried by the central rod inadvance of said rod and the paddles which are attached thereto,substantially as shown.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

MARTIN A. PETERSGN.

Witnesses:

BEN JENSEN, CHRISTIAN E. PETERSON.

